Airflow channeling structure for densely packed storage enclosures

ABSTRACT

A chassis directs cooling air around compute components of an information handling system (IHS). The chassis includes an enclosure having a base wall, an air intake at a front side, and an air exhaust at a rear side. Stiffeners are attached laterally across the base wall and positioned between the front side and a rear area of the base wall. A planar member is horizontally attached on top of the one or more stiffeners. The planar member is provisioned with the compute components, which substantially block air flow above the planar member causing thermal shadowing of the thermal energy generating component that is provisioned in the rear area. Air channels formed through each of the stiffeners direct air flow under the planar member toward the rear area that is provisioned with the thermal energy generating component.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to information handling systems(IHSs), and more particular to an IHS chassis having air flow directedto thermal energy generating components that are thermally shadowed byother compute components.

2. Description of the Related Art

As the value and use of information continue to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems (IHSs). AnIHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicatesinformation or data for business, personal, or other purposes, therebyallowing users to take advantage of the value of the information.Because technology and information handling needs and requirements varybetween different users or applications, IHSs may also vary regardingwhat information is handled, how the information is handled, how muchinformation is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly andefficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated.The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for aspecific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing,airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications.In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and softwarecomponents that may be configured to process, store, and communicateinformation and may include one or more computer systems, data storagesystems, and networking systems.

Ever-increasing demand for storage capacity of hard disk drives (HDD)and solid state drives (SSD) prompts system designers and end users toseek solutions that can fit higher storage capacity into smallerexternal volumes. Storage enclosures that hold more drives (e.g., HDDs)result in high system airflow impedance since the drives are tightlypacked. The air flow impedance of enclosures is proportional to how muchairflow is blocked by the HDD and its carrier. In these densely packedstorage enclosures, the combination of pre-heated air from the HDDs andreduced airflow creates a challenge to cool thermally sensitivecomponents that are downstream of the HDD array. Increasing fan power toachieve the same amount of airflow can mitigate these effects only to acertain degree.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure providestructural support within a chassis for dense storage requirements whileproviding for robust thermal management. The weight of densely packedstorage enclosures require that structure be added along a widthdirection of the enclosure in order to increase the stiffness of a basewall of the enclosure and minimize sag/sagging.

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, a chassisfor an IHS is provided having a thermal energy generating component thatis thermally shadowed by one or more compute components. In oneembodiment, the chassis includes an enclosure having a base wall, an airintake at a front side, and an air exhaust at a rear side. One or morestiffeners are attached laterally across the base wall and positionedbetween the front side and a rear area of the base wall. A planar memberis horizontally attached on top of the one or more stiffeners. Theplanar member is provisioned with the one or more compute componentsthat substantially block air flow above the planar member to causethermal shadowing of the thermal energy generating component that isprovisioned in the rear area. One or more air channels are formedthrough each of the one or more stiffeners to direct air flow under theplanar member toward the rear area that is provisioned with the thermalenergy generating component.

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, an IHSincludes the chassis, the one or more compute components, and thethermal generating component to form a functional server. The one ormore air channels formed through each of the one or more stiffenersdirect air flow under the planar member toward the thermal energygenerating component. Thereby the chassis provides structural support todensely provisioned compute components on the planar member, which is inturn supported by the stiffeners having air channels for cooling.

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, a method isprovided of manufacturing a chassis that cools thermal energy generatingcomponents of an IHS. In one embodiment, the method includes forming anenclosure with a chassis that has a base wall. The method includesforming one or more stiffeners each having one or more air channelsformed transversely through. The method includes attaching the one ormore stiffeners laterally across the base wall. The method includesattaching a planar member that is horizontally on top of the one or morestiffeners. The method includes provisioning a thermal energy generatingcomponent within the enclosure of the chassis to a rear of the planarmember. The method includes engaging one or more forward computecomponents on top of the planar member, where the placement of thecompute components blocks air flow above the planar member to thethermal energy generating component. The method includes providing anair flow directed towards the one or more air channels through each ofthe one or more stiffeners to direct air flow to the thermal energygenerating component.

The above presents a general summary of several aspects of thedisclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of at least someaspects of the disclosure. The above summary contains simplifications,generalizations and omissions of detail and is not intended as acomprehensive description of the claimed subject matter but, rather, isintended to provide a brief overview of some of the functionalityassociated therewith. The summary is not intended to delineate the scopeof the claims, and the summary merely presents some concepts of thedisclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that follows. Other systems, methods, functionality,features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be or willbecome apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing figures and detailed written description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description of the illustrative embodiments can be read inconjunction with the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated thatfor simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in thefigures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, thedimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to otherelements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosureare shown and described with respect to the figures presented herein, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagrammatic view of an information handling system(IHS) that controls cooling air through stiffeners of a chassis of aserver, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a left side diagrammatic top view of the server ofFIG. 1, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front side diagrammatic view of the IHS of FIG. 2cutaway along lines A-A, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front left perspective view of an example chassisfor the IHS of FIG. 2 with example stiffeners disassembled, according toone or more embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a front left perspective view of the chassis of FIG.4 with the example stiffeners assembled, according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a front left detail view of the chassis of FIG. 5,according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a front left perspective view of an example IHS withthe chassis of FIG. 4 partially cutaway to expose compute componentssupported by an example stiffener, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates a front left detail view of the example IHS of FIG. 7partially cutaway to expose the compute components supported by theexample stiffener, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a left side view of the example IHS of FIG. 7,according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a left detail view of the example IHS of FIG. 9,according to one or more embodiments; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of manufacturing achassis of an IHS having stiffeners that direct cooling air to a thermalenergy generating component system that is thermally shadowed by computecomponents supported by the stiffeners, for a server chassis that isprovisioned with serially aligned compute components, according to oneor more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides an information handling system (IHS)having a server chassis fitted with one or more stiffeners that directcooling air around compute components placed within the chassis. Thechassis includes an enclosure having a base wall, an air intake at afront side, and an air exhaust at a rear side. A base stiffener providesthe structure for the enclosure as part of a chassis that is provisionedwith functional compute components of an information handling system(IHS). Stiffeners are attached laterally across the base wall andpositioned between the front side and a rear area of the base wall. Aplanar member is horizontally attached on top of the one or morestiffeners. The planar member is provisioned with the compute componentsthat substantially block air flow above the planar member to causethermal shadowing of the thermal energy generating component that isprovisioned in the rear area. Being perpendicular to the airflowdirection, generally-known base stiffeners block airflow to downstreamcomponents.

In the present innovation, the base stiffener both stiffens the basewall and channels air to downstream components. Air channels formedthrough each of the stiffeners direct air flow under the planar membertoward the rear area that is provisioned with the thermal energygenerating component. The base stiffener is designed and/or fabricatedto include notches or apertures through which air can move, while notsignificantly impacting the strength of the stiffener. Air channelsformed through the base stiffener can provide two discrete benefits to asystem cooling infrastructure. First, the base stiffener behaves as asnorkel for directing cooling air to downstream system components, suchas central processing units (CPUs), dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs),and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards, whichdownstream components are located behind higher impedance systemcomponents, such as a dense array of hard disk drives (HDDs). Second,the stiffener can disrupt thermal shadowing along the base of the HDDbackplane by allowing some preheated air to be remixed with fresh airbeing channeled through the stiffener. Since HDDs have biased thermalloads towards an interface connector where a voice coil motor (VCM) andsystems-on-a-chip (SOC) are closely located, HDDs can be cooled moreeffectively when more air is introduced near the backplane as providedby the present disclosure.

In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure, specific exemplary embodiments in which the disclosure maybe practiced are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the disclosed embodiments. For example, specificdetails such as specific method orders, structures, elements, andconnections have been presented herein. However, it is to be understoodthat the specific details presented need not be utilized to practiceembodiments of the present disclosure. It is also to be understood thatother embodiments may be utilized and that logical, architectural,programmatic, mechanical, electrical and other changes may be madewithout departing from general scope of the disclosure. The followingdetailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense,and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appendedclaims and equivalents thereof.

References within the specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “embodiments”, or “one or more embodiments” are intended toindicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure. The appearance of such phrases invarious places within the specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments andnot by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which maybe requirements for some embodiments but not other embodiments.

It is understood that the use of specific component, device and/orparameter names and/or corresponding acronyms thereof, such as those ofthe executing utility, logic, and/or firmware described herein, are forexample only and not meant to imply any limitations on the describedembodiments. The embodiments may thus be described with differentnomenclature and/or terminology utilized to describe the components,devices, parameters, methods and/or functions herein, withoutlimitation. References to any specific protocol or proprietary name indescribing one or more elements, features or concepts of the embodimentsare provided solely as examples of one implementation, and suchreferences do not limit the extension of the claimed embodiments toembodiments in which different element, feature, protocol, or conceptnames are utilized. Thus, each term utilized herein is to be given itsbroadest interpretation given the context in which that terms isutilized.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate block diagram representations of an example IHS 100having a server chassis 102 that houses functional compute components104, which collectively form a functional server 106 that comprises oris a constituent portion of the IHS 100. A base stiffener 108 provideslateral structural stiffness to the server chassis 102 and also providesone or more air channels 110 for cooling certain compute components 104.The server 106 represents one of a plurality of various embodiments ofthe disclosure. For purposes of this disclosure, an information handlingsystem, such as IHS 100, may include any instrumentality or aggregate ofinstrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit,receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect,record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or otherpurposes. For example, an information handling system may be a handhelddevice, personal computer, a server, a network storage device, or anyother suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance,functionality, and price. The information handling system may includerandom access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as acentral processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic,ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components ofthe information handling system may include one or more disk drives, oneor more network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, anda video display. The information handling system may also include one ormore buses operable to transmit communications between the varioushardware components.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3, the server chassis 102 providescooling air around functional compute components 104 of the IHS 100. Theserver chassis 102 includes an enclosure 112 having a base wall 114. Theenclosure 112 has an air intake 116 at a front side 118. The enclosure112 has an air exhaust 120 at a rear side 122. Base stiffeners 108 areattached laterally across the base wall 114 in a front area 125 that ispositioned between the front side 118 and a rear area 124 of the basewall 114. A planar member 126 is horizontally attached on top of the oneor more base stiffeners 108. The planar member 126 is provisioned withparticular compute components 104, such as dense storage devices 128,that substantially block air flow above the planar member 126, causingthermal shadowing of thermal energy generating component/s 130provisioned in the rear area 124. Air channels 110 formed through eachof the stiffeners 108 direct air flow under the planar member 126 towardthe rear area 124 provisioned with the thermal energy generatingcomponent/s 130.

A particular amount of air flow is required for cooling the thermalenergy generating component/s 130 with the functioning IHS 100. A servercontroller 132 can monitor a temperature sensor 134 to detect aninterior temperature within the enclosure 112. In response to thedetected interior temperature, the server controller 132 can direct afan controller 136 to change an operating speed of one or more fans 138that push or pull air through the enclosure 112 from the air intake 116to the air exhaust 120. The relative size and numbers of aperture/s 140that form each air channel 110 can vary and thus each air channel 110can have a different effective aperture to address cooling requirementsof the thermal energy generating component/s 130.

With further reference to FIG. 2, in one embodiment the stiffener 108can include a planar member supporting surface 142, a base wallcontacting surface 144, and a blocking surface 146 that is connectedbetween the planar member supporting surface 142 and the base wallcontacting surface 144. The blocking surface 146 has a solid surfacethat would otherwise block airflow through the server chassis 102 underthe planar member 126. However, apertures 140 formed within the solidsurface of the blocking surface 146 provide one or more air channels 110for directing cooling air along the base wall 114 (FIG. 1).

In an exemplary embodiment, the stiffener 108 is formed from a piece ofsheet metal 148, which is bent to form two base supports (chassiscontacting flanges 154), angled side walls (blocking surfaces 146), andan elevated, substantially horizontal, planar member supporting surface142. The first blocking surface 146 a is angled downward from a forwardedge 150 of the elevated planar member supporting surface 142 the secondblocking surface 146 b is angled downward from a rearward edge 152 ofthe elevated planar member supporting surface 142. Each of the first andsecond blocking surfaces 146 flare horizontally and outwardly into arespective forward and rearward chassis contacting flanges 154 forattaching to the base wall 114 of the enclosure 112.

With further reference to FIG. 3, the enclosure 112 can further providefor lateral walls 156 that are each attached to respective sides of thebase wall 114. Each lateral wall includes a recessed air channel 158 todirect air across the sides of one or more compute components, such asdense storage devices 128, provisioned proximate to the respectivelateral wall 156. In one embodiment, the recessed air channel 158 isformed by stamping a contoured shape into sheet metal. The recessed airchannel 158 can direct cooling air to a thermal energy generatingcomponent 130 that is provisioned in an elevated portion of theenclosure 112 (FIG. 1).

FIGS. 4-11 illustrate an IHS 200 having an exemplary server chassis 202with base stiffeners 208 that enhance cooling air flow, according to oneor more embodiments. With particular reference to FIGS. 4-6, the basestiffeners 208 attach to a front area 225 of a base wall 214 of theenclosure 212. With particular reference to FIG. 6, each base stiffener208 includes two (2) air channels 210 each formed from eleven (11)square apertures 240 through front and back blocking surfaces 246 oneach planar member 242. It should be appreciated that the apertures 240can be of different geometric shapes, sizes, numbers, and spacing toachieve a desired air flow. Each base stiffener 208 is attached to thebase wall 214 of the enclosure 212 by fasteners that pass throughforward and rearward chassis contacting flanges 254. Each lateral end ofthe base stiffener 208 includes an upward flared mounting tab 260 formounting to a respective lateral wall 256 of the enclosure 212.

FIGS. 5-6 illustrate recessed air channels 258 formed into the lateralwalls 256 of the enclosure 212. Cooling air enters an intake port 262that is presented by a vertical bracket 264. The cooling air can bypassa rectoid space above the base stiffeners 208 to supplement the airchannels 210. Cooling air can leave the recessed air channels 258 behinddense storage devices 228 (FIGS. 7-9). FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a functionalserver 206 of the IHS 200 having dense storage devices 228 that presentimpedance to air flow except through the air channels 210 and recessedair channels 258. Thermal energy generating components 230 in a reararea 224 of the enclosure 212 can be cooled by cooling air “snorkeled”around the dense storage devices 228.

FIG. 10 illustrates the functional server 206 having the air channels210 that can cool the base stiffeners 208 and thus cool dense storagedevices 228 that are indirectly mounted to the base stiffeners 208 viaplanar members 226. Thermally active components of storage devices suchas hard disk drives (HDDs) can tend to be positioned in a lower portionof the respective storage device 228 for thermal conduction to amounting surface such as the planar member 226.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method 1100 of manufacturing a chassis of an IHShaving stiffeners that direct cooling air to one or more thermal energygenerating component systems that is/are thermally shadowed by computecomponents supported by the stiffeners, according to one or moreembodiments. The method 1100 begins at start block. The method 1100includes forming one or more stiffeners each having one or moretransverse air channels for directing air flow received proximate to thebase wall. In one embodiment, the method 1100 includes forming the oneor more stiffeners into an A-frame cross sectional shape by bending thesheet metal to form an elevated, substantially horizontal, planarmember. A first blocking surface is angled downward from a forward edgeof the planar member. A second blocking surface is angled downward froma rearward edge of the planar member. Each of the first and secondblocking surfaces flare horizontally and outwardly into a respectivefirst and second chassis contacting surface to facilitate attachment tothe base wall (block 1102). The method 1100 includes forming one or moreair channels transversely through each of the one or more stiffeners(block 1104). In the particular embodiment, the first and secondblocking surfaces contain aligned air channels that are aligned front toback. In one embodiment, the method includes forming one or moreapertures of one air channel to have an effective area that is greaterthan an effective area of one or more apertures of another air channel.

The method includes forming an enclosure with a chassis that has a basewall for provisioning a thermal energy generating component (block1106). In one embodiment, the method 1100 includes forming a lateralwall of the enclosure to have a recessed air channel by stamping acontoured shape into sheet metal to direct air across the sides of oneor more compute components provisioned proximate to the lateral wall(block 1108).

The method 1100 includes attaching one or more stiffeners laterallyacross the base wall in front of a portion of the base wall that isutilized for provisioning a thermal energy generating component (block1110). The base stiffeners are placed closer to an air intake side ofthe enclosure, and the thermal energy generating components are closerto an air exhaust of the enclosure. The method 1100 includes attaching aplanar member that is horizontally on top of the one or more stiffeners(block 1112). The planar member provides an upper surface for engagingone or more forward compute components that substantially block air flowabove the planar member to the thermal energy generating component. Thenmethod 1100 ends. With the chassis assembled, functional components ofthe IHS can be provisioned in the enclosure. When functionallyinterconnected, a fan or other air mover can cause cooling air to movethrough the enclosure, including through the air channels to cool athermal energy generating component that is otherwise thermallyshadowed.

In the above described flow chart of FIG. 11, one or more of the methodsmay be embodied in an automated manufacturing of an embedded ductingstructure of a cooling system that performs a series of functionalprocesses. In some implementations, certain steps of the method arecombined, performed simultaneously or in a different order, or perhapsomitted, without deviating from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, whilethe method blocks are described and illustrated in a particularsequence, use of a specific sequence of functional processes representedby the blocks is not meant to imply any limitations on the disclosure.Changes may be made with regards to the sequence of processes withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Use of a particularsequence is therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of the present disclosure is defined only by the appended claims.

One or more of the embodiments of the disclosure described can beimplementable, at least in part, using a software-controlledprogrammable processing device, such as a microprocessor, digital signalprocessor or other processing device, data processing apparatus orsystem. Thus, it is appreciated that a computer program for configuringa programmable device, apparatus or system to implement the foregoingdescribed methods is envisaged as an aspect of the present disclosure.The computer program may be embodied as source code or undergocompilation for implementation on a processing device, apparatus, orsystem. Suitably, the computer program is stored on a carrier device inmachine or device readable form, for example in solid-state memory,magnetic memory such as disk or tape, optically or magneto-opticallyreadable memory such as compact disk or digital versatile disk, flashmemory, etc. The processing device, apparatus or system utilizes theprogram or a part thereof to configure the processing device, apparatus,or system for operation.

While the disclosure has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular system,device or component thereof to the teachings of the disclosure withoutdeparting from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intendedthat the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodimentsdisclosed for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote anyorder or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are usedto distinguish one element from another.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The description of the present disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thedescribed embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explainthe principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:a chassis that forms an enclosure having a base wall; one or morestiffeners that are attached laterally across the base wall; a planarmember that is substantially horizontally attached on top of the one ormore stiffeners; at least one thermal energy generating componentprovisioned within the enclosure of the chassis towards a rear area ofthe planar member; one or more compute components that are engaged ontop of the planar member and that substantially block air flow above theplanar member; and one or more air channels formed through each of theone or more stiffeners and which direct air flow under the planar membertoward the at least one thermal energy generating component, the one ormore air channels eliminating thermal shadowing caused by the at leastone thermal energy generating component that is provisioned in the reararea.
 2. The IHS of claim 1, wherein: each of the one or more stiffenersfurther comprise a planar member supporting surface, a base wallcontacting surface, and a blocking surface that is connected between theplanar member supporting surface and the base wall contacting surfaceand that includes a solid surface that blocks airflow through thechassis under the planar member; and one or more apertures that areformed within the solid surface provide the one or more air channels. 3.The IHS of claim 2, wherein the at least one thermal energy generatingcomponent comprises two or more thermal energy generating components,wherein an effective area of the one or more apertures that form one airchannel is greater than an effective area of the one or more aperturesof another air channel.
 4. The IHS of claim 2, wherein the one or morestiffeners each further comprise a rectangular sheet metal bent to forma horizontal planar member supporting surface that is connected to afirst blocking surface angled downward from a forward edge and a secondblocking surface angled downward from a rearward edge of the horizontalplanar member supporting surface, respectively, each of the first andsecond blocking surfaces flaring horizontally and outwardly into arespective first and second chassis contacting surface.
 5. The IHS ofclaim 2, wherein the one or more stiffeners comprise a molded component.6. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the enclosure of the chassis furthercomprises a lateral wall that is attached to the base wall and thatcomprises a recessed air channel to direct air across the sides of theone or more compute components provisioned proximate to the lateralwall.
 7. A chassis for an information handling system (IHS) having atleast one thermal energy generating component, the chassis comprising:an enclosure having a base wall, an air intake at a front side, and anair exhaust at a rear side; one or more stiffeners that are attachedlaterally across the base wall and positioned between the front side anda rear area of the base wall; a planar member that is horizontallyattached on top of the one or more stiffeners and that is provisionedwith one or more compute components that substantially block air flowabove the planar member; and one or more air channels formed througheach of the one or more stiffeners to direct air flow under the planarmember toward the rear area that is provisioned with the at least onethermal energy generating component, the one or more air channelseliminating thermal shadowing caused of the at least one thermal energygenerating component that is provisioned in the rear area.
 8. Thechassis of claim 7, wherein: each of the one or more stiffeners furthercomprise a planar member supporting surface, a base wall contactingsurface, and a blocking surface that is connected between the planarmember supporting surface and the base wall contacting surface and thatincludes a solid surface that blocks airflow through the chassis underthe planar member; and one or more apertures formed within the solidsurface provide the one or more air channels.
 9. The chassis of claim 8,wherein: the at least one thermal energy component comprises two or morethermal energy generating components that are provisioned beside eachother in the rear area of the base wall of the chassis, each of the twoor more thermal energy generating components having different coolingrequirements; and an effective area of the one or more apertures thatform one air channel is greater than an effective area of the one ormore apertures of another air channel, where a difference in theeffective areas correspond to the different cooling requirements of thetwo or more thermal energy generating components.
 10. The chassis ofclaim 8, wherein the one or more stiffeners each further comprise arectangular sheet metal bent to form a horizontal planar membersupporting surface that is connected to a first blocking surface angleddownward from a forward edge and a second blocking surface angleddownward from a rearward edge of the horizontal planar member supportingsurface, respectively, each of the first and second blocking surfacesflaring horizontally and outwardly into a respective first and secondchassis contacting surface.
 11. The chassis of claim 8, wherein the oneor more stiffeners comprise a molded component.
 12. The chassis of claim8, wherein the enclosure of the chassis further comprises a lateral wallthat is attached to the base wall and that comprises a recessed airchannel which directs air across the sides of the one or more computecomponents provisioned proximate to the lateral wall.